I have a two-year-old cat on diet food and she is still not losing weight, could she have diabetes?

Answer 1

The difference between cat "diet" food and regular food usually is added fiber that allows kitty to feel "satisfied" without adding calories. However, just like with humans who can gain weight by eating too much low-fat and lite foods, if kitty is eating too much diet food, she will still gain weight.

More important than the type of food you feed is the amount you feed. If kitty is not losing on the amount of food you are feeding right now, decrease the amount fed by 10-15%. Wait a few months and recheck kitty's weight. If still not losing, decrease by another 10-15% and so on.

Also, as someone before me suggested, meal feeding is often helpful too. It makes it easier to control how much you are feeding kitty. Feeding 2-4 meals a day is recommended based on what your schedule allows. I feed my kitties 2 meals a day and they do great!

It is unlikely your cat has any type of disease keeping her from losing weight. However, I still recommend for all kitties, even young, seemingly healthy kitties, that they have physical exams and complete health panels (bloodwork) every year to catch any disease process early while it can still be managed.

Good luck!

Answer 2

1

Answer 3

I agree with pet friend. Diabetes causes cats to lose weight. I think she is pretty young for that to be a problem. However, if you continue to feed her a high carbohyrate diet it could be in her future.

Felines in zoos have a raw meat diet and they don't exercise any more for their size than your housecat does. They are always trim and well-muscled.

Suffice it to say that high quantity and quality of protein is the key to having a trim kitty. No grocery store food, diet or otherwise, has that in it.

You need a food for her with the highest protein quality you can get and fillers such as brown rice, millet, oats, pea etc. GSF's have corn as 2/3 of their makeup and corn is used to fatten slaughter animals so cut out all corn. With a better food you do not have to be concerned about the quantity of your cat's food. Two "meals" a day and nothing in between. When you cut the corn from the diet the cat will stop GAINING right away so you will have a great step forward in taking weight off right there. The rest of the weight will come off gradually over six months to a year.

I can refer you to articles by vets or web sites about what to look for in a cat food if you want to email me about it.

Answer 4

Talk to your vet about a really good diet food. The key is to measure the amount you give your cat everyday. Diabetes can be a problem with overweight cats, but a side effect tends to be increased thirst and lethargy. Talk to your vet or any of the staff at your clinic about a good diet food. The best in my opinion is the Medical Reducing diet. It helps reduce weight and is also safe for diabetic cats.
Good luck!

Answer 5

What Cat Lady said. I have a fatty who didn't lose weight on 1/3 cup of dry food per day. Ok, I cheated and gave her a little more, but it was still not a lot of food. She even got lots of exercise running to the kitchen to beg for food every time I got up.

After a crash course in cat nutrition, I've switched her to a good quality canned food, and 2 days ago started adding 250mg per day of Carnitine to her food. It's only been a month, so I don't see any results yet. But that's ok.

Cats need to lose weight slowly; 1 pound per month or 1/2 pound per month for a 25 pound cat is about right. But I've got my fingers crossed. Toes too.

Answer 6

in my experience, diabetic cats usually lose weight instead of gain weight. I would have your vet check lab work to be on the safe side of things. I got my cat to lose weight by having her chase a flashlight for about 15 minutes per night

Answer 7

Diabetes is usually treated through a combination of diet (low sugar), exercise and medications/insulin. Read here https://tr.im/WoLAv
Milder cases can be controlled with just diet an/or exercise while more severe cases require meds or insulin as well.

Answer 8

I have a calico cat thats fat. We have tried diet foods but no luck. She seems healthy so we just let her be. She seems happy and content. She has plenty of space to run around our house but doesnt i guess. She's always been like that so we just assume thats the way she is. She's a sweetheart.

Unless she seems unhappy id let her be. I know it sounds bad but thats what we do.

Answer 9

Animals with diabetes tend to drink a lot of water, so that could be something to watch for too.

Answer 10

well that depends. does she have enough space to run? do you play with her? an active cat will loose weight . check with the vet on the diabetes .